Continued from Figures in the Snow
I was sapped of strength, exhausted by want and cold, and when I saw the great and glorious flame-eyed Noldo looking down at me, my heart leaped in my breast, the blood drained from my face, my knees grew weak, and I thought I would faint. For a moment I thought that Lord Veryacano was Oromë himself, his countenance was so majestic and unyielding, and I was utterly overcome. But when he spoke, I knew that he was flesh and blood, and recollected my wits again.
I was raised up from the snow and told to follow him. Who would dare do otherwise? His eyes were like the blazing stars, like lightning in the clouds. He has tread in many battles, and fought with dragons and high servants of darkness; all have been put to shame, yet still he walks these lands. Following him was difficult!
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I cannot keep up this pace for much longer, thought Parnard. Methinks he will not slacken his pace for mine, and little will he rest. But I will not show weakness and be despised.
They climbed up and up, and when Parnard thought he could not take another step, or he would fall down as dead, Veryacanyo suddenly halted, and commanded that the group stop to rest. “What’s your story?” he asked Parnard, his voice stern as steel.
It was with great difficulty that Parnard spoke. His breath was quite taken away, and his vision seemed to see Lord Veryacano at a remote distance – an immeasurable gulf lay between them. How can I, so lowly and feeble, talk to such a one as this lord, he thought. Yet I must say something, anything, else I anger him.
“My lord,” he began in a quavering voice, “it is a short and bitter tale. I wandered far away through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, taking roads into empty and pestilent lands, darker than blackness. I spoke with many men, and counseled them to turn aside from their evil ways. I might as well have grasped a thorn bush with my hand! Those violent ones will never listen to wisdom, and were pruned with the edge of my sword.” He tossed his head disdainfully, but his face grew somber.
“Full were my days, yet dimmed was all my joy. My heart was sickened with solitude and this unnatural wickedness of men. My lord, they have made me sore distressed! It is as a rock is tied around my neck, and I have been flung into the raging sea; I sink under the weight. I thought to stand alone against their venom and hatred, but I am not strong enough for that! One person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back, and three are even better,” he said, a peculiar light entering his eyes and his voice rising in pitch with excitement. “It is as this loose thread of my cloak: while it is plied together, it is not snapped, but if I untwist and loosen it, it is easily broken asunder, see?” Parnard plucked at the thread to demonstrate his example, but in his fervor tore the bottom half of his cloak completely off. The other Noldor made snorts of derision, and Veryacano raised an eyebrow.
Parnard hastily stuffed the scrap into a pouch. “Well, it is no matter, my lord!” he said, turning back to face Veryacano. "Now that I am found and brought back to the House of Vanimar, I shall not stray from it again. Lord Anglachelm showed me how near to happiness I was; he gave me a purpose, a path to follow, and I would give all for him. It is a privilege! I – I only lack a command – one within my means to achieve, and that is why I was returning to Lord Anglachelm, to ask him what it is I do. I seem to be as one groping blind in the darkness." He gave the tall elf from Aman a worried glance.
"It is not that I set out to fail! Do not let my woebegone looks deceive you, mighty one. I am poor in everything but spirit, but the spirit is all, is it not? Ha, ha, ha! And I have this!” He hoisted up the ridiculously large dwarf-crafted sword with a grunt, and waved it around with a wild flourish in the frigid air while treating a boulder to his best scowl. It was a very good one, for he had Lord Daegond standing nearby to model for him. Parnard lowered his sword, and throwing himself before Veryacano’s feet, cried out, “Command me, O ancient and noble lord! Let me walk your ways, and I will obey you, and do everything as you say, and all will be well!”
